She drew me
by Science. And. Faith. Too
Summary: ALL HUMAN! Dimitri is a history teacher at the local school. He's your usual man, with a job and a whole string of one night stands. Until his life changes for ever...and he can't believe it...
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey!**_

_**This is a story I just wrote and decided to post! It's….okay I guess. But it has a bigger plot line than one you'd expect. **_

_**Summary: Dimitri lives with his sister, Viktoria, and his mother for a few months while the rest of his family is away. Then somebody turns up. And changes his life forever. **_

_**All human. Characters are OCC. **_

_**Tell me of any mistakes I have made. I haven't had time to read through and will get a beta as soon as possible. **_

_**Influences include: Writers of the O.C, a movie called Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and me! For now. Other influences will be mentioned later. **_

_**Please R and R!**_

_**.Lysa.**_

_**P.S. Dimitri is a history teacher in this story. **_

"Dimitri! Up! Now!"

Dimitri rolled his eyes and scraped the last of the foamy substance off his chin. He patted his face dry and poked his head out the door, promptly shouting back,

"I know! I'm up!"

"Well get down here! Your sister needs to get to school. And so do you!"

Dimitri moved back into the disarray of his messy room and slid his bag across his chest. He did a quick once over of the room, carefully checking he hadn't missed anything, then backed out of the room and ran down the stairs.

"Earthquake, earthquake! Heard your thunder thighs all the way from China," Viktoria muttered around her mouth of cereal. She sat, bleary eyed and grumpy at the old kitchen table surrounded by plates of eggs and bacon, bowls of porridge and oatmeal, stacks upon stacks of waffles and pancakes and tureens of juicy strawberries and butter and crystallized honey. The curtains at the kitchen window were thrown open, allowing the lazy morning sun to burst forth and illuminate the morning feast, courtesy of his absent mother.

His sister had set up a textbook against the milk jug and was clearly engrossed in it, shoving food through the corner of her mouth whenever she got the chance.

"And good morning to you too," Dimitri replied sourly, kissing her purposefully and messily over the head as he moved past her, managing to throw her elbow into the bowl of butter as a bonus. She hit him away with an annoyed look, pressing down the hair that had obviously taken her hours to preen.

"Hey! Do you know how long it took to get it like this?" Viktoria yelled. Dimitri languidly poured his cup of coffee from the machine and swivelled around against the kitchen top.

With a dazed and confused look he replied, "Nope. Don't know and don't care."

Viktoria muttered something that probably would have scored her a grounding if Olena had heard, grabbed the nutella container sitting next to her, and chucked it as hard as she possibly could at her grinning brother in a blind moment of rage.

Her brother's well-practiced hand swiftly turned up and caught the twirling container with ease. His tired face lit up with an amused smile. Viktoria made an impatient noise and his grin grew even more pronounced.

"Dimitri, stop annoying your sister," Olena muttered when she padded into the kitchen, her arms laden with dirty laundry and socks.

Dimitri promptly spit out the coffee and Viktoria's face split into a beatific smile.

"But-I-It wasn't me. How do you know it was me?" Dimitri spluttered, mopping up the coffee with a tissue. Viktoria was laughing now, a wicked and malevolent laugh that poked at her brother's anger.

Olena shook her head, muttered something about kids, and threw the pile into one of the chairs, shuffling over to the kitchen top to finish making a sandwich.

With his mother's back turned he mouthed to his sister with a quick swipe across his neck, "You're gonna get yours."

In response, she made an ugly look and poked her tongue out at him.

"Okay," Olena suddenly announced, turning around so both her children could hear her. They both looked oddly flustered, like they had been doing something a few seconds ago and had hastily just wiped whatever it was off their faces. She dismissed it with an odd look, and then turned back to what she was going to say.

"Now. We're going to be having a new guest at our house for the next few weeks or so. A young lady whose mother I used to be old friends with. Her mother contacted me a few days ago and would like us to take her in for a couple of weeks and I have complied. With your sisters and grandmother overseas for another 2 months or so, the house is pretty empty. So I accepted." She paused and shot looks at both of her children.

"So that means, no fighting. No swearing. No physical or verbal fighting of any kind from this moment on. From both of you." She narrowed her eyes and both her children shrank under her gaze. "I expect both of you guys to treat her with respect and love. Take care of her. She's our responsibility now."

"Do I have both your words?" Olena enquired, her eyes still on her children. They both nodded quickly.

"Good." Olena smiled and ruffled Dimitri's hair as he leaned against the table top near her. "I know you're both good kids. Just a little naughty when you're both in the same room." She sighed and turned back to the sandwich.

Dimitri moved away from the counter top with his steaming coffee in hand and slid into the seat next to Viktoria.

"You heard of this before today?" Viktoria looked up from her book with a mean look. "I'm sorry, are we bonding now?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes and hit her lightly on the arm. "Shut up. I'm being serious."

Viktoria turned and moved her hand past his arm toward the plate of bacon and eggs. "Me too," Viktoria whispered back. She picked up a slice of bacon and nibbled on the edge of the rind. Slowly.

"Hey! Dead of the night! Any moment now?"

"Maybe." Dimitri poked her side impatiently. She knew something.

"Cough up." She neither moved nor flicked her eyes up to acknowledge his comment. "Fine, I'll do your kitchen duty tonight."

She slowly turned her head around and put the food down, licking her greasy fingers. "Lunch as well?"

Dimitri nodded grudgingly and urged her to go on.

"Fine. I did happen to hear something," Viktoria announced with an annoying superior tone to her words. She smiled good naturedly a few seconds later. "I know she requested to use the garage. For some sort of workshop or something. That's all I know." She raised her hands in surrender and scooped up a spoonful of cereal.

Dimitri leaned back and mulled over that. Workshop? What did that mean? "You serious?"

"No, I'm joking," Viktoria replied sarcastically with a bite. "Jeez. Why do you want to know so badly? _If she's a girl? If she's legal? If she'd do it with you?_ _What colour eyes does she have? Is she too short? Because you know I hate that._"

Dimitri let out a faint huff.

"And anyway, I'm not fuelling your sex addicted ass with more ammunition if I can help it. So you can keep it in your pants, in your trunk, or wherever the hell it is you keep it."

Dimitri looked shocked by his sister's admission and whispered slowly, "How old are you?"

"18 and legal, Gen X. Nice of you to notice." She made a peace sign in his face. "Okay, really, who cares? She'll come. We'll say hi. Smile. Become friends. You can hit on her. You can pay me to cover for you etc."

"I am not going to hit on her!"

Viktoria snorted and coughed around her cereal. "Yeah…like you don't hit on everything around here in a 12 mile radius with breasts and great legs. _Damn. I'd tap that. I'm in love with her! Dang! Did you see her? Today starts Dimitri gets-laid-holiday weekend!"_

Dimitri looked outraged. "Okay, number one, I never said that. Two, I don't sound like that. Three, I have never in my life said anything about tapping anything! Fourth, Dimitri gets-laid holiday weekends ended 10 years ago…unfortunately….and fifth I know exactly what will happen when I fall in love and I can tell you, it hasn't happened."

"And what's that?" Viktoria said as she grabbed a strawberry from the bowl.

"I don't know." He paused enigmatically. "Something will just…happen," Dimitri said in a whisper, a dumb, dazed look plastered across his face. Viktoria was so amused she wanted to hammer him just for the fun of it.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Really? The world will tumble. Volcanoes will erupt. The sun will become brighter. Violins will play," Viktoria mocked in a sceptical voice.

Dimitri hit her lightly on the back of her head. "Shut up. At least I know. The closest you've ever come is Kenny Oswald from 2nd grade." He paused with a sad, reminiscent sort of look on his face, his fingertips tracing the edge of the honey bowl. "Until you found out he didn't exactly bat for my team."

With a thanks-for-that look, Viktoria scraped her chair back and carried her empty bowl over to the sink, striking up a conversation with his mother standing at the table top. Dimitri grabbed a piece of toast and scarfed it down in two. This was certainly the first he'd heard of this.

* * *

><p>"Now. Viktoria, listen to your brother," Olena yelled up the stairs to Viktoria. "And make sure you come home from Elena's as soon as you've finished studying. No sticking around to play." She paused with a stern look. "Not today at least."<p>

Dimitri shrugged on his coat and slid his bag back into place. "Now you take care of her okay? I know you will no matter what, but still," Olena told Dimitri as Viktoria tore down the stairs to meet them. "Don't stay at school for long. Come home as soon as your lessons are over. You can plan your lessons at home Mr History Teacher."

He swept down and kissed her on both cheeks with a smile; a silent promise. The mad glint in his eyes however, didn't promise as much.

He leaned down and pinched Viktoria's already reddened cheeks. "Don't I always take care of my baby sister?"

"Off!" Viktoria cried with a dirty look, struggling to put both arms through her backpack. She shoved him out of the way and kissed her mother on the cheek.

"Ew! What is that?" Viktoria pulled back with a face. Dimitri grinned.

"Ew!" Viktoria squealed. That's-That's just...mom, go wash your face. You'll smell like a sweaty ball-sacked sex addict if you don't for the rest of the day," Viktoria added maliciously.

"Viktoria!"

"Viktoria!" The second one had been Dimitri, in a high-pitched shocked voice, and a stunned slap to the mouth.

"That's enough. Both of you. Go. Now."

With a whole string of hurried love you's from both Dimitri and Viktoria, they slowly trudged down to the gates to climb onto his bike, their mother's eyes still on their backs.

"Truce?" Dimitri tried, starting the bike up and offering his sister a helmet.

She smiled and grabbed the helmet. "Whatever."

_**Liked it?**_

_**Review? More to come.  
><strong>_

_**.Lysa. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**So. I hope you guys I liking this story so far, but again, this is only the beginning. **_

_**Please review if you do read. I'd really appreciate it. **_

_**.Lysa.**_

"I'm leaving at 2. Are you sure Elena's going to take you home with her?" Dimitri asked as they pulled into the teacher's car park. They always had their usual angry banter between brother and sister, but he still cared a lot about her as her older brother. He had to ask.

"Yes, Dimitri. For the last time. Go and enjoy your Viktoria free afternoon," she added as she slid of the back and handed him back his helmet.

"Always. See you later! In fourth period! No jigging! Bye!" Dimitri yelled after a retreating Viktoria, who managed a hurried wave and jerk of her head.

Dimitri, unlike his sister, took his time walking up to the school, seeing as he didn't have a first period class.

"Belikov!" A dark, accented voice called behind him. Dimitri turned in surprise. A heavily perspiring, plump teacher who he vaguely remembered was running up the stairs after him.

"Ryan?"

Ryan huffed and puffed when he finally caught up to him and placed a clammy hand on Dimitri's shoulder to steady himself. _Lucky it was leather._

"You have a first period class?" Dimitri shook his head slowly, both surprised and wary. Ryan shook his head as he tried to catch his breath.

"Good. New teacher. Art teacher. Needs help moving easels into her new classroom in the E-block. Has a truck out the front with all her supplies." He gestured with a thumb, revealing a saturated area of perspiration under his arm.

"Tried. To. Help. But. Couldn't. Keep. Up." He looked like he was going to have a hernia and was trying to breathe slowly through his nose, madly ruffling the great amount of nose hair he had crammed up there.

Dimitri mused. Free time. Help. Free time. Help. Damn it. He was a good person.

"Yeah. I got it buddy. You go….rest." Dimitri patted him cautiously on his sweaty back. Ryan managed a weak thumbs up and stumbled up the stairs to the staffroom.

"Thanks Belikov. You the best. You the best." He continued to mumble this as he headed up the ascending stairs.

Dimitri meanwhile, ran down the few steps he had made up, and raced around the building and back into the parking lot. He found the truck easy enough. It was big enough to hold two cars and had the word _Artline_ patterned across the right side. The man outside the truck looked annoyed and glad that somebody was finally here to "move all this crap" and announced he was leaving in 10 minutes, with "her shit" if she didn't collect.

That's how, 5 minutes later, Dimitri stood with 5 boxes of acrylic paints, 2 containers of thin brushes, two boxes of pastels and 2 easels. He tracked down a passing boy on the street and negotiated to pay him if he carried them for him. The boy happily agreed with a nod and grabbed most of the boxes, leaving Dimitri with the easels and brushes.

He managed a little small talk with the boy, asking him his name and asking him a few other choice questions. Very teachery of him he had to say. Once they reached the E-block, Dimitri handed over the money and bade him goodbye with a smile.

He turned. A door was inched open at the end of the corridor, the only one with light or any other indication of human activity.

As he drew near, a voice muttered, "Oh, crap. This isn't what I ordered! I better call them…."

Dimitri cautiously stopped outside the door and poked his head around the door.

"Excuse me?"

The art room looked like it did any other day- two rows of desks covered in newspaper, walls adorned in pieces of art and lino, canvases of paintings lining the edge of the windows and the teacher's desk situated right at the opposite end of the room. The only difference was, that there was young woman standing near the window, examining a handful or paintbrushes.

The woman who had spoken earlier.

"Hey, can you please put those over on one of the desks? I'll move them later," the woman called, turning around to finally face him full on.

Holy. Mary. Mother. Of. God.

The woman in front him….well…there wasn't even a word for it. A few words drifted through his mind. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. Sexy. Yeah. That last one really hit the spot.

She had to be….what…21? The best 21 year old woman he had seen in a while.

She wore a simple, silk white shirt, stretchy and collared at the neck. She had accompanied a pencil skirt with the shirt and a black engraved belt cinched at her waist. To finish off the look, she wore shiny, probably new, black high heels.

Her hair was a gorgeous dark brunette, streaked with red and gold and flowing in gentle waves over her shoulders and down to her waist. Her observant almond shaped brown eyes were carefully outlined in gold, complimenting the liquid honey colour of her irises. Her skin, so delicious and dazzling from where he stood, looked buttery and wholesome and almost edible to his eyes. Desert princess like features on a body like that…..well….she was a knockout to any living man on the planet.

Once he had put his eyes back into his head, Dimitri noted the fact that the woman was doing the same exact thing he was doing. Giving him a clear once-over. Her eyes suddenly clicked up to meet his in a hard, territorial glare. Several words passed through his foggy mind. The words "Mad dog" seemed to summarise it all pretty well. He was surprised he hadn't dropped the things in hands. She gave him a weird look and crossed one leg over the other. He hoped he didn't have some awed half-assed look on his face. He never let a woman see him like that!

"I'm sorry. But you're not the man who was helping me earlier. Ryan, was it?" She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and frowned.

"Yeah. He, uh, he couldn't do it. So he sent me." She nodded understandably and smiled sadly.

"Knew he wouldn't make it. But he was eager." Wonder why. "I didn't want to dampen his spirits," she added as she moved forward to greet him. Her sharp, flowery scent suddenly enveloped his surrounding environment and he had no choice but to inhale it like some sedated animal.

"Rose." Nice. "New art teacher." She held her hand out. The silver bracelet on her wrist jiggled slightly. He took it. "But you probably got that."

"Dimitri." A raised eyebrow. "History teacher."

A smile lit up her sultry features. "Ahhhh. Hated history when I went to school," Rose announced, grabbing the brushes and paints in his hands.

"Hated art when I was at school." Rose laughed again, an enchanting smart laugh that issued from her small, petite body.

Dimitri took a seat down on one of the desks and asked, "So where did you come from? Before you came here."

She had her back to him now and was rummaging through a box. "America. I went to Brown." She sighed and turned around. Probably noting the confused look on Dimitri's face, she went on to describe that it was a college she had went to to get an art degree. She had just finished and was sent over to Russia for some overseas program her Professor had signed her up for.

"I don't even know the language. Or the culture. Or the history," she added with a glance at me. "I do know a lot about its art though. Some of the best come from Russia."

Dimitri nodded appreciatively. She was so right. "You got any classes today?"

She shook her head. "Not today. I've been given the day off to get settled." She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "Just got off the plane actually. The principal told me to go and rest, but I've got it. The jet lag will come to me soon though."

"How about you? Haven't you got a class?" Dimitri followed her out the door to collect the supplies from outside.

"Nah. I actually only have a period after lunch. Then I'm out. Normally I stay after school to wait for my sister, but she's going to a friend's house today."

She grabbed one of the boxes of acrylics and a few other things and headed back inside. Dimitri grabbed the rest. "You have a little sister?"

"Yeah. I have other siblings, but she's the youngest. Still at school. Sucker!"

She laughed. "You're so mean. But so sweet at the same time. You wait for your little sister after school! That's adorable. And so big brothery of you."

Dimitri shot her a quizzical look. "Is that even a word?"

"Is now."

"So you got annoying, little siblings on your tail?"

She opened the boxes of paints and acrylics and moved about placing them in cupboards.

"No. Nobody. Just me. Brought up by my mom actually." Rose paused, looking quite wary of what she was saying. "Dad….wasn't really part of the picture."

"Neither was mine," Dimitri said, jumping up to put the paints in her hands away. When he reached out to grab them, they met eyes. And she _smiled._ For like the thirteenth time.

But oh, that smile. It would be the death of him.

She broke the trance first. "Listen. Thanks for all your help! I've got it from here. You go and….whatever it was you were going to do for the morning! Go!" Rose shoved me out the door with a determined get-out expression. Little hands on such a little woman and yet she was so powerful.

Dimitri stopped just outside the door. "Nice to meet you Rose."

She beamed and waved from the window. "Nice to meet you Dimitri."

_**Review? Please? Helps me improve as a writer- which I really need.**_

_**Next chapter is already typed and ready to publish. So don't worry about waiting!**_

_**.Lysa.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay! Next chapter! Thanks for the warm feedback! I was really touched And please keep reviewing! Some constructive criticism always goes a long way. **_

_**Keep reading!**_

_**.Lysa.**_

After his afternoon class, Dimitri headed home. Mom had probably made lunch, and to be quite honest, he was starving. He jumped onto his bike, and with more than enough stares on his back, courtesy of 95% of the female population of the school, he raced home.

To his surprise, the driveway was not empty as it usually was. A bright red little car was in front of it. One Dimitri had neither seen here or anywhere in the village.

The house was empty, he knew that. Mom was out. Mom usually left the window on the right side of the house closed if she was here, and it was open now. Which meant she wasn't here.

So who was?

Dimitri jumped the back fence and crept his way around the back of the house.

This door was open.

With a little trepidation and caution, he opened the door and slipped inside.

Dimitri could hear water running. Bathroom? But who? A faint humming joined the chorus of water. What the heck is that?

He followed the voice upstairs, grabbing Viktoria's wooden bat from the coffee table on his way and taking station outside the closed bathroom door. The voice issued louder out of the bathroom. _Cheaptrick?_

But why would a thief be taking a _shower and singing to Cheaptrick of all things?_

Wouldn't they just take whatever they wanted and just go?

_Click._ The door swung open. Steam streamed out. _No time to think._ Dimitri steadied the bat and muttered a prayer in Russian. _Forgive me._

And swung the bat at the intruder.

The intruder, in total surprise and fear, screamed at the top of its lungs and dropped the towel. Dimitri, in total surprise and fear, dropped the bat and put his hands up.

Dimitri's eyes slowly moved up to find the intruder.

The intruder. The intruder had….

….had dark brunette hair. All the way to _her waist_.

What? Shit! Rose? Cue the screaming. And it came. Oh, it came. She screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

"Here, here, here!" Dimitri threw the towel at her. "Just take it! Just take it! I am so sorry! I am so-"

Rose shot him an angry look and cut him off with a "mmmm."

"I am so-"

She held a hand up, and with the towel secured around her body, moved down the corridor.

"Can I help you?" Dimitri called after her.

* * *

><p>"What were you doing here anyway?" Dimitri asked her as he set down a cup of tea in front of Rose.<p>

"Taking a shower. At my guest's place."

Oh, shit.

Hold up. Wait, _she's_ the guest? _She?_ Hot new art teacher? Shoot. Me. Actually, shoot mom first. She didn't mention any of this! But then again, we didn't ask.

"…Olena Belikov. What were you doing here?" she enquired with a frown.

"_I _live here."

"Huh?"

"I. Live. Here," Dimitri enunciated slowly.

She gave him a dry smile. "Yeah, not a retard."

"I never mentioned my last name. I'm Dimitri. Belikov."

Understanding shone in her eyes. "Belikov? You're Belikov? The Belikov?"

Dimitri looked up in surprise. "The Belikov? Where'd you hear that from?"

She blushed. "Nowhere. In the staffroom. I didn't know you were Belikov. Or that your mother was Olena. Or that you lived here."

She took the tea in two hands. "Sorry. It was my fault. I should have…I don't know. Have left a sign on the door or something."

"Olena left in the morning for some meeting thingy and left me here. Apparently her daughter wouldn't be back till late. But her _son_ probably would be. She didn't say what time though…or how old he was…" She muttered the last bit.

Dimitri sat down opposite her. "Aren't you freezing? Why'd you open the window in the garage?"

"I was painting. It was the turpentine. It smells really strong. So I opened a window. I also spilled paint through to my shirt. That's why I decided to take a shower this early." She gestured to the damp hair and ratty paint decorated overalls.

"Right. Well, I'm sorry. Mom didn't tell me you'd be here this early, so I really had no-"

Rose cut in. "Oh, no, she had no idea I was coming in this early. It was my fault." She paused. "But seriously, who comes at somebody with a baseball bat like that? With eyes closed and all? You really think an intruder will stick around to have a shower?"

She chuckled and jumped up out of her seat to pop the kettle on.

"Ha ha ha. Hilarious. Of course not. I just thought….whatever." Dimitri wasn't going to justify his actions. She grinned. "What are you doing?"

She opened the cupboards up, rummaged around a bit, then started pulling ingredients out.

"Lunch. Spaghetti. Olena said you should make something, but I'll do it. My treat, since I scared the living daylights out of you." I jumped up as well and headed over to the stove.

"You scared me? I scared you! You screamed like somebody was murdering you."

Rose stood on her tiptoes trying to get to the sauce on the top shelf. "Well, it's not every day a man comes at you with a baseball bat with enough force to render you brain dead." Noted.

"Here, I'll get it." Dimitri grabbed it with ease and then offered it to her. A few metres over her head.

"Give it! Don't be such a jerk!" She cried, clawing away at my outstretched arm.

"A little higher Hathaway." Gosh, he was mean. But it meant watching her struggle. And she looked adorable when she struggled. _And _whenever she stretched, her shirt rode up. Oh, gosh, he was so going to hell.

"Kidding. Here. See? I'm nice." That earned him a slap.

She gave him a dark look but snatched it off him with a little more force than probably necessary. "Jerk. And where are you going buddy?" Rose added when he began to walk away. "You're helping Belikov. Chop chop. You're in charge of the sauce. Don't burn it. Or I'll burn your face and a few other places I'm too polite to mention." She hip-bumped him with a dark look and slapped a pot to his chest.

"Damn, girl. Harsh."

After a rather nice lunch (minus the fact Rose scalded most of the spaghetti- "It was the pot!" Rose had justified with a blush) they settled down in front of the television to while away the afternoon until Viktoria or Olena came home.

Dimitri grabbed the remote before Rose could protest.

"What's on?" She threw herself onto the coach next to him.

"A few serials. A few movies. All Russian," Dimitri grinned appreciatively. "But we do have normal television as well."

Rose smiled happily and instructed him to change it before she broke his eye socket.

"Let's see….God, The O.C? I hate that show!" Dimitri grumbled.

An extremely eager Rose wrestled the remote off him and excitedly announced the contrary: she loved the O.C.

Dimitri was left to endure 90 minutes of the show (double episodes, different seasons) which he had to admit, was not that bad.

"Can I call you a 75 year old yenta named Sylvia too? How about telling everyone that you have genital warts?" Rose asked in between.

Just as the third episode was about to begin, Rose and Dimitri both heard the door slam shut. A tired and pissed off Viktoria traipsed into the room and parked herself on one of the opposing chairs.

"I hate my life," Viktoria announced.

"Glad you finally realized." Slap from Rose. "I mean, Welcome to my life." Slap from Rose. Dimitri took Rose's small hands in his. "Yeah, okay, stop. Before I bitch slap your ass back to America."

"Hey Viktoria," Rose smiled, trying to pull grasped her fingers away from Dimitri's.

Dimitri looked taken back. "Wait, you guys know each other?" He narrowed his eyes at Viktoria.

Viktoria grinned. "Something wittle Dimitri doesn't know? Score. Met her in school, nut nut. She introduced herself. You're the new art teacher right?"

Rose nodded and continued to try to pry her fingers from Dimitri's.

"Balls of steel, huh?" Viktoria nodded to Rose's crushed fingers. "He'll give it up. Easy." Viktoria hit him on the back. Hard. He let go.

Ow. "Okay, the abuse I get from both of you is just unbelievable. I could just go home instead of putting up with all this!"

"Awwww. Poor Dimitri. All swollen and purple. Would you like a band-aid little bunny?" Viktoria tried with a grin, poking Dimitri.

"Get off!" Dimitri protested. Rose beamed as well but told Viktoria they should knock it off.

"I'll go get you something to eat. You relax. And watch the O.C!" Rose called enthusiastically, running toward the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of sight, Viktoria immediately pounced on Dimitri and grilled him for questions. He was still rubbing away at his sore back with an annoyed look.

"Hands!" Dimitri yelled with a look at Viktoria's hands.

Viktoria ignored that. "So, you like? Up to your standards? Totally hot and smoking? Meat on two legs? Did something…happen?"

Dimitri looked disgusted with a fake shocked look on his face. "No. No. And," he paused, "way too young to know. I'm not telling you. Not adding corrupting minors to my list of bad traits. Too young to go to jail. A few more years sweetie," Dimitri added with a pat on Viktoria's shoulder.

She gave him a look. "I've known about sex 3 years too early courtesy of you, jackass. So don't use that half-assed excuse. Spill."

"Did you learn all the cussing from me too?"

"GO!"

Dimitri frowned. "Alright. Jeez, woman. Keep your panties on straight."

Silence fell. Dimitri looked like he was going to have a heart attack with the face he was attempting. He tried for a fake, vague staring-off-into-the-distance look. "I don't know. I guess…something did happen." He quickly snapped out of it and jumped up casually adding, "We'll see. I'm going to get some water."

"Arse-hole," Viktoria said, punctuating with word with force as she threw the pillow at her brother's retreating back.

_**Thoughts? Review? I may have gone into 1**__**st**__** person and 3**__**rd**__** person here and there, which is totally my fault. I am going to fix it! As soon as possible!**_

_**.Lysa.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Gosh, I am hitting my head against the computer screen right now.**_

_**I am so sorry to anybody who read this before, but this is the same chapter I uploaded earlier today. **_

_**Me, being the idiot I am, accidently deleted this chapter instead of another. And so I had to re-upload it. Sorry for the inconvenience!**_

_**For people who haven't read it, here is the next chapter!**_

_**Much love,**_

_**.Lysa.**_

"Dimitri! Get up! Now!"

Dimitri groaned and turned over under the covers. "Mom! I don't have classes today!"

"Well, Viktoria does! Get UP!"

Dimitri groaned again into his pillow and then shoved the covers off. A wave of cold wind hit his bare chest, and he almost grabbed the covers back.

_Knock knock._ Dimitri yawned.

"Come in."

The door swung open and to his surprise, it wasn't his mother standing in the doorway. Not even his sister. It was Rose.

"Hey," she said softly, tucking a waif piece of hair behind her ears. Today, instead of leaving it down, she had bound it into a messy bun on top of her head; stray bits that had escaped the rubber band hanging around her face in waves. She looked like one of his sister's dolls.

She still wore the ratty blue overalls from last night- her work clothes she had explain-but had changed the top.

One strap of her overall had come undone and was hanging loose down her front. He wished she would button it already.

"Your mom told me to give you this," Rose continued, cautiously holding out a mug of coffee.

"Er, yeah. Just leave it over there on the cupboard." He gestured to the cupboard. "I'll be down in a few," Dimitri told her with a smile. She returned the smile and obliged, backing out of the room to Dimitri's relief.

Within in five minutes, he had shaved, thrown on a shirt, swallowed the coffee down and was in his jacket. He was ready before Viktoria was.

"Move it woman. Haven't got all day," Dimitri called down the hall. His mother came bustling down the corridor with a harassed looking Viktoria on her heels.

"…You know, you could get all this done if you just woke up five minutes early," Olena was telling Viktoria.

Viktoria simply shrugged her bag on and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Thing is, I don't want to mother."

Olena turned and grabbed her hat, shoving it roughly on her head, like some crazy lady at the market. "Make sure you cover the ears! I don't want you coming home sick!"

Dimitri was in hysterics now. Viktoria looked like a grumpy version of Bert from Sesame Street. Minus the monobrow. Priceless. Hit on youtube: "Ugly Bert in a beanie: Volume 1." He could see it now.

"See? This is why I don't do that, ma!" Viktoria tore of the hat and shoved it back into Olena's hands. "I just made his day. And some really retarded man on youtube's day."

"Damn straight!" Dimitri confirmed. His mother gave him a dark, disapproving look.

Dimitri shrank a little and dropped the smile, replacing it with an acceptable, hopefully believable serene expression.

"Okay, okay, we're going Princess." Dimitri grabbed Viktoria's arm and flung her out into the cold morning air.

"Fresh air," Dimitri declared, stretching his arms out. He took a deep breath. "Don't you love it?"

Viktoria ducked under his arms, smiling sourly and replied sarcastically, "Yes. Just as much as I love your hairy armpits on display."

Dimitri swiped at her. She ducked. "Too slow old man. Move it!" Viktoria yelled as she ran down the steps.

"Wait!" Dimitri stopped in his tracks when a little hand grabbed onto his jacket sleeve. He turned.

His mother. With her usual worried look and frown whenever Dimitri and Viktoria left, Olena dropped a set of keys into Dimitri's hands.

"I'll be out by the time you get back. A shift at the nursing home. Overtime. Gotta love it!" She wrung her hands nervously and smiled. "Take care of Rose and Viktoria. I'll be back by 6, okay?"

With determinedly pursed lips, Olena reached up and tucked a piece of his hair behind his ear. "My baby."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Mom! Jeez. I'll see you later." He pecked her lightly on the cheek and waved as he ran down the steps. "Love you!"

* * *

><p>"Hello? Monet? Where are you?" Dimitri shrugged off his jacket and hung it up on the hook. His mother had clearly left, for her jacket was nowhere in sight.<p>

"Down here!" A small voice yelled back. He turned. The garage.

Dimitri took his time coming down, trudging slowly down the creaky stairs of the garage with heavy footsteps. He stopped at the end of the stairs, right on the last step.

"Aren't you freezing?" Dimitri asked softly. Rose was standing in the middle of the garage, in the middle of all the junk of the garage: his old T-shirts, Viktoria's old toys and games, Grandmother's fortune telling stuff, old boardgames and various other things he didn't even know they owned. The garage looked basically the same. Save for the fact all their stuff was pushed to the corners, allowing the main area of the room to be used by Rose.

Her paints, brushes, easels and canvases littered the surrounding floor and windows. Old, torn rags covered the tile flooring of the room, decorated with cans and tubes of paint and boxes.

In the middle of the room however, one easel had been set up, right under the illumination of the light. A large canvas stood on its holder, half-painted and half dry.

Rose sighed. Her petite face, though clear of make-up, was dotted in dry paint of blue and green. Her hands and arms were also splashed in colour, some dry; some wet. Price of being an artiste I guess.

"No. I'm alright. Just a little…jet-lagged I guess." She shrugged, putting down her little plate of paint and sitting down on one of the nearby boxes. "It's so annoying, I just keep going in and out of sleepiness."

He moved closer to her and sat down on the box next to hers. "Go to sleep then," he suggested, nudging her lightly.

She turned and smiled wearily. "I can't. I told you: I go in and out of sleep." Rose moved a little closer and put her head on his shoulder. He tried not to stiffen.

"Don't you think something's missing?" Rose whispered suddenly.

"Huh?"

She gestured silently to the canvas in front of them. His first thoughts of the painting were that it was beautiful. She had painted something lovely. A modern Garden of Eden, blooming with sunshine and waterfalls and wild flowers of every colour imaginable. A rainbow of colours to his eyes, it was simply magnificent. But Rose didn't seem to agree with that. She was sadly frowning at it.

"I don't know. My work is just," she groped for the word desperately, "I don't know. Dry. Lacking. I just….I need inspiration, you know?" She sat up suddenly, releasing the warm pressure on his shoulder. Her eyes were alight with something; a dark impish glint in her otherwise brown eyes. Dimitri didn't like it.

"You got any Merlot?"

"Some what?"

"Merlot. Wine. Beer. Champagne. Anything alcoholic." She poked him. "Something to get the blood pumping."

Dimitri looked taken aback. "This early? And are you even legal?" A dry look. "Okay, point taken."

She grabbed his arm. "Come on. I need some inspiration." Rose dug her nails in. "Inspiration."

* * *

><p>"This is all we got." Dimitri flourished the large bottle and set it down on the kitchen table.<p>

Rose squinted. "What is that?"

"Russian Vodka. The strongest vodka you'll probably ever consume, Hathaway. Got the stomach for it?" Dimitri smiled and slammed two glasses on the table.

Rose sneered and grabbed both glasses. "How about we make things interesting?" She jumped up and ducked her head into one of the cabinets. "Shots?" She held up two tiny glasses in both hands.

"I thought this was about inspiration?"

"It is! In a way. Think of it as therapy," Rose told him. She slammed the glasses onto the table, twisted the cap of the vodka and filled both glasses to the brim.

"Cheers." With eyes on each other, they both held up the glasses and swallowed it. Whole.

Spluttering ensued from Rose's end of the table. Dimitri smiled and slammed his glass down, drumming his hands against the wood of the table. He knew Hathaway couldn't take it.

"You alright, Hathaway? Too small to handle the bite?"

She shot him a sour look and wiped her mouth against the back of her hand. "Oh, it is on Belikov."

So Rose poured. More and more. Glass after glass, they drank, never breaking eye contact, trying to ignore the horrible burn in their throats. Until there wasn't any vodka left. Dimitri had to admit: he wasn't doing well. The world was blurring. Or was that normal? Right now, he had no idea.

Rose looked…well, she looked…hot. As always. But oddly weird, all drunk and sprawled all over the kitchen table. And for some reason, the only thing he kept seeing were lights and Rose. Rose in white. Rose in black. Rose in any sort of colour. But either way, one thing was clear: He wanted her. He wanted to grab her. Roughly. Shove her against the table. And then make sweet love to her for hours and hours and hours and hours….

"Belikov!" Somebody barked. He snapped out of his reverie.

"Yes! I am so there it's insane!" Dimitri yelled.

Rose yelled back, "Not deaf Belikov!"

"Oh, gosh. I'm drunk stupid." Rose gave him a weak thumbs up. Dimitri buried his thumping head in his hands. "That was stupid." Another thumbs up.

Rose suddenly lifted her bobbing head up and frowned. "My boyfriend was a jackass."

"What?" He laughed.

"Jackass. Boyfriend," Rose screamed. "Well, ex-boyfriend now."

Dimitri put his head down. "My girlfriend was psycho. Like….psycho." He started laughing, a crazy unhinged laugh.

When he stopped, Rose was staring into space with a blank look. "His name was Adrian," she whispered sadly, burying her head in her hands. "Player of the century. The hottest guy in the world. But dumb as rocks."

Dimitri glanced up. "Tasha. Biggest bitch EVER. Girlfriend of two years." Rose looked up. "Master of blackmailing and back-stabbing."

Rose stared at him for a while, hard, before grabbing the glasses again and filling it up.

She held it up in a toast.

"To jackasses and biatches. Don't need em." They clinked and downed it.

"Why'd you come here? Really?" Dimitri's words were starting to slur now. He should have stopped. Well, they should have stopped. But they were so depressed and sad with the world. There wasn't any other solution.

Rose frowned angrily. "I told you! Work program."

Dimitri raised his eyebrows and squinted. "Uh huh. Where'd you get all the cash for all the art stuff? You must be-"

"Loaded?" Rose supplied. Dimitri managed a weak nod.

Rose sighed. "I told you, Dad wasn't part of the picture. Neither was mom really. But dad at least tried to make up for that. He paid for all my tuition and anything I needed."

"Man. That's-"

"Cool, huh?" Rose smiled. "Cool."

Dimitri fingered his glass.

"I came here to get away," Rose started. "Get away from my life. My mom. My ex-boyfriends." She paused. "As an artist, I wasn't getting much. Cash, I mean. It's a hard market. Mom was always on my back about getting my act together, learning to pay for rent, finishing school. So I just moved my shit and came here. Nothing to lose and nobody on my case." Rose smiled and leaned back, putting her head against her arms.

"How about you? Living with mommy?"

Dimitri gave her a lazy, half-hearted look. "No. I have my own place." He frowned. "In the city. Grandma and my other sisters went overseas for a while, so Viktoria and mom were here alone." Dimitri sighed. "So I agreed to move in for a few months."

"Such a good boy."

"Shut up."

"You're so-ahhhhh!"

Dimitri, in his own fuzzy world, took a while to finally register the scene in front of him. Rose. Toppled chair. On the floor. Laughing. He crawled onto the floor next to her. She was still shaking with maniacal laughter.

Dimitri chuckled lightly. "Hey, you okay?" He moved a stray piece of hair off her cheek. She stopped laughing and turned her head to survey him.

"Yeah." She stared into his eyes, the etch of her last laugh still evident on her beatific face. He had been stared at before, way too many times to his chagrin, but this…this was different. With Rose…well, it felt like she was staring into his soul when she looked at him like that. A hot, white burning coil of desire burnt deep in his heart. Or was that the vodka speaking?

"I think we should-" Dimitri started.

"Watch the Wiggles!" Rose screamed suddenly, jumping up from the floor; a weird and childlike excitement projecting from her quivering body. She raced down the hall before a bewildered Dimitri could reply or get up.

"There's so swirly," Rose said slowly as Dimitri entered the room. The television was blaring at volume 50 on some Russian channel. The Wiggles were on. Dimitri jumped over the coach and settled next to a sad/happy Rose. He cocked his head to the side.

"They are kind of swirly."

Dimitri, with an excited sort of air, looked around to say something else, when his eye caught something else. He grabbed Rose's finger.

"What's this?" She looked down. Her finger was bleeding, profusely as well, but she hadn't seemed to notice it till now. She shrugged distractingly.

"Had that ages ago. Guess I nicked it when I was opening the bottles." She sucked on it till it was no longer bloody.

Dimitri grew concerned. "Are you sure you don't want me to get a tissue, or a band aid, or-"

Rose threw her arms around Dimitri and pulled him close, making him forget everything about tissues and band-aids.

"I'm so hot." Er, yeah. Not exactly a news flash. He moved uncomfortably under her hold. Gosh, she was warm.

Rose's face turned grumpy and she scratched her paint spotted nose. She looked adorable enough to eat.

She moved closer to him, close enough that he could smell the vodka off her. Rose turned extremely serious. "I need to-I need to-I need-"

_Bam._

"Hello?"

Dimitri cautiously poked Rose's limp head, lying against his chest, totally unconscious. Nope. She was all light's out.

She could have at least given him a warning before she did a face-plant just like that. He could have looked all heroic and caught her.

Instead, he smiled and patted her lightly on the back.

The next morning, Rose was already up by the time Dimitri got up. When he finally aroused, killer hangover and all, he saw the new picture Rose had painted. A painting of a bottle of vodka surrounded by two hands; one of a man and another of a woman. They were both in a strong arm-wrestling stance; a warrior like grace to their hands. She called it "Vodka hands".

_**Review? Was it alright?**_

_**.Lysa.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you for all the reviews! So, here is the next chapter! It is a little shorter than I usually write, but here it is. Please, if you do read, review. I would love to hear from you!**_

_**.Lysa. **_

"So hungry!" Viktoria announced one afternoon, a few weeks after the Vodka incident. Olena had gone out for a double shift and had left Dimitri and Rose in charge. They were all in front of the television, flicking mindlessly through channels.

"I can make something," Rose said, crushed between Dimitri and Viktoria.

"Uh huh. Like what?" Viktoria replied.

"This, is something I used to make all the time," Rose told Dimitri and Viktoria as she stirred the mixing bowl. They were both perched on the kitchen table tops, watching Rose churn all the sugar and cocoa and eggs together. She was apparently making chocolate kisses.

She must have paused sometime in the middle of all her churning (Dimitri hadn't noticed) and instead shoved the bowl into Viktoria's vacant hands. "Well, get working."

Rose allocated them both different jobs. Dimitri was in charge of the oven and washing up (much to Viktoria's delight) and Viktoria was in charge of helping Rose put everything together. Somewhere in between this, the doorbell rang.

Dimitri volunteered to go get it, considering he wasn't doing much, and came back with a surprising companion in his arms.

"Oh, hey Raeloo," Viktoria smiled. The little girl waved happily back from Dimitri's arms.

Dimitri approached an interested Rose. "Rose, this, is Raelyn. She lives next door with her parents." He smiled at the girl. "But unfortunately, her parents aren't back from work just yet and she's locked out. So you're going to be hanging out with us for a while, huh?" Dimitri added, nudging the little girl.

Raelyn was about 8 by now and was in Year 1 at the local primary school. She was a shy, introverted girl from next door, with a cute sprinkling of brown hair across her head and curious liquid brown eyes that tugged at anybody's heartstrings. Rose eagerly held out her hands to hold her with an "OMG! Aren't-you-just-adorable" look.

"Hey," Rose said softly. The little girl smiled, revealing a clean set of white sparkly teeth. "Well, you're just the sweetest thing ever," Rose crooned. She kissed her lightly on the nose and swung her around in her arms. "Would you like to help us?"

* * *

><p>Raelyn hung out with them for the rest of the afternoon. They even let her stir the bowl and lick the spoon after (an honour Viktoria normally had). When they were finally ready, after hours of preparation and hours of cleaning up and washing up, Rose triumphantly set the hot baking tray on the kitchen table.<p>

"Tada! Dig in!" She waved at them all to grab one. With a piece of chocolate in hand, all four of them held it up to take a bite.

And spat it out in the same second. Dimitri made a face. It was-it was-

"What is that?" Viktoria enquired, a frown creasing her surprised face.

"Salt!" Rose and Dimitri spluttered in unison.

Rose frowned down at the chocolate, her hand on her hips. "What happened? My chocolate kisses have never turned out like this!" She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Okay, so we put everything in. The eggs, the cocoa, the-"

"The salt."

_The salt?_ Viktoria, Dimitri and Rose all spun around to face the little voice that had spoken. Raelyn. Sitting squat on the kitchen floor and powdered in flecks of sugar and cocoa.

"The salt," she announced, looking quite happy with herself and with little hands, brandished a small shaker of crystals.

* * *

><p>"How long have you been riding for?" Rose asked. Rose had offered to go to the shops with Dimitri to grab some milk for his mom, but had instead struck up a conversation while they waited outside.<p>

Dimitri shrugged and patted the bike. "What this? A few years. Mom wouldn't let Viktoria on it after I first bought it though." He chuckled. "Or after the accident."

"Accident?" Dimitri pulled back his hair and pointed out a scar going down his scalp. "15 stiches down my scalp. Two broken ribs. A few broken fingers."

Rose gaped. "Whoa. And you're still walking?" He shrugged. It had been years ago. Long forgotten. And yet he still had a constant reminder of it every day.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "What happened?"

"Drunk driver. Ran a red light. Didn't see it coming at all. Scared the crap out of me too and nearly skinned my whole face."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Wow. That, uh, really increases my appeal to motorcycles."

Dimitri smiled. "It's really not that bad. That was…an accident. But it rarely happens if you know what you're doing."

A smile slowly spilt over Rose's face. Her mischievous, naughty smile. He hated it. Number1, it made her look like the sexiest thing in the world, creating fantasies of wanting to kiss her and do many other things to her he was too embarrassed to mention. Number 2, it usually meant she had cooked up some crazy, dangerous scheme that involved him and everyone else in a 3 mile radius. And he hated crazy, dangerous plans.

"Teach me. After we get the milk." Before he could protest, she hitched her skirt up and jumped on the back of the cycle, patting the seat in front of her. "Chop chop. Gotta get moving."

* * *

><p>"How much for milk?" Rose asked, a shocked expression on her face. The man at the store hadn't really asked for much, but to her, it had seemed like a lot. He had seen her face when he had passed the money over.<p>

Dimitri chuckled and transferred the bag with the milk to his other hand. "It's actually not that much in roubles."

Without another word, she ran ahead and jumped on the bike before he reached it. Then stopped. Rose's eyes suddenly widened and she clutched the seat tighter, her knuckles turning white from the exertion.

Dimitri slowed his pace. "What is it?" he asked slowly, almost cautiously. He knew her well enough to know when something was up.

She put a trembling hand up to point forward. "The docks! It's perfect!"

"For?" Dimitri finally reached her and leaned against the bike. She turned and grabbed the front of his jacket in her little fists.

Rose was close enough he could smell her flowery perfume. She whispered her next words. "To teach me. To ride." Then she smiled; a cute smile that popped a dimple in her left cheek.

Dimitri juggled the keys in his hands and considered. Did he want to risk her getting hurt? Did he want to face Viktoria's wrath? Did he want to get skinned alive by his mother for hospitalising Rose? Yes, yes and hell yes. If it meant her smiling like that at him again, he would have done anything she asked.

"Okay. But only just this once." She squealed and tapped out a staccato rhythm on the leather seat. "I haven't even taught Viktoria yet." With a bad feeling in his stomach, he jumped on and led the bike to the far end of the docks.

He handed her the helmet, which she immediately rammed on (looking just as adorable as before, he might add) and taught her the basic operations of the bike.

"Give a little, and go a little."

"So a little give and a little go?" They both smiled at that.

"Do you have it?" She frowned and flexed her hands on the gears with a determined sort of expression. Dimitri, standing by her side on the bike, didn't really think so. The bad feeling in his stomach was becoming worse. What if she got hurt?

"Can you stop worrying?"

Now Dimitri frowned. "How do you know that I'm-"

Rose waved a hand. "Been around you long enough to know your happy face, your sad face," she ticked them off with her fingers, "Your "I-don't-think-this-is-a-good-idea" face, your-"

"GO!" He stepped back suddenly and released his pressure on the bike. Rose, meanwhile, probably out of shock and surprise, pressed down on the wrong gear. Oh, crap.

And sent the bike flying into the docks. And Rose into the water.

"Oh, shit!" Dimitri tore his jacket off, and without another thought, dove into the warm, clear, Russian ocean.

* * *

><p>To Dimitri's extreme sadness, Viktoria opened the door when they made it home. She gave them both a once-over (a dripping wet and shivering Rose and Dimitri), and quickly masked her shock, opening the door wider to let them in.<p>

Viktoria grabbed the milk out of Dimitri's soaked fingers with a plain, "Don't wanna know."

_**I stole two lines or so for this chapter from the film, "How to lose a guy in ten days." The whole scene really, was inspired by a scene in the film. So, credit goes to the writers of that wonderful film. **_

_**Anyway,**_

_**Review?**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Listen, give me a ride, will you? I'm late!" Rose ran down the steps, her hair bounded up in a bobbing bun, her eyes erratic.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh. Hold your bloody horses." Dimitri shrugged into his jacket and turned around to get his sister.

"Leaving in two minutes! With or without you Cinderella! Prince Charming'll die of old age by the time you actually leave the house!"

Rose chuckled behind Dimitri. She pulled her gloves onto her hands.

"I finish around 1".

"Same," Dimitri smiled. She smiled back.

"Yeah? Cool. We'll go home together." There were so many ways he could go with that, but he stopped himself. With a woollen hat enveloped around her brunette hair and a smile that would have poisoned any man's heart, he would have kissed her right then and there, and he would have died a happy, happy man.

Until, _of course_,Viktoria ran past in a blur and broke the space between them.

"Come on! What happened to this talk of old age?" Viktoria turned and asked.

* * *

><p>"….so even years after the assassination of JFK, rumours of conspiracy and mystery surrounded his death. CIA? Mafia? The Cubans? The Russians?"<p>

An indignant snort followed the last one.

Dimitri smiled at the red head in the front and tapped the board. "I know, right? But anyway. Your assignment is to discuss who _you_ think assassinated JFK. I need evidence, people. If you don't have that, expect an F."

"Threatening students Belikov? And I thought you couldn't sink any lower."

If it had been a student, Dimitri would have flipped. But the voice had come from the doorway. Where Rose stood. Her arms crossed and a wry smile on her face.

Dimitri tapped the stick on his board and turned. "Funny Hathaway. I seem to remember a little incident last…Wednesday? Where you squealed with laughter the rest of your class when the principal tripped over her heels and split her skirt?"

Dimitri nodded his head with faint bemusement as he walked forward. "I don't know whether you remember, but my memory's clear as crystal".

Her smile dropped a little and she stepped into the class. Turning to the wider audience, she grinned at them.

"I don't know about you guys, but how about we do something fun today? Skip history for a day?"

A murmur of agreement resounded through the class.

Dimitri stepped forward with crossed arms, emanating a hard, guarded stance.

"Absolutely not. I cannot condone it. No hijacking my class, Hathaway." Dimitri shook his head. "That's where I draw the line."

She stepped closer and poked Dimitri in the side. He succumbed and smiled.

"Like you could ever be serious."

"Why bothering my class Hathaway? Your own ditch you?" Dimitri threw a piece of chalk at her skirt.

She deflected it and made a face.

"My class is actually outside".

Dimitri frowned. "Doing what?" he asked suspiciously.

"Waiting for yours". She smiled and then chuckled.

"Come on class!" She waved them all forward and a collective yell broke out.

Trying for a quick fist pump, Rose turned quickly, grabbed the chalk and scribbled, "Dimitri cries while he has sex" in big letters on the board.

"Now that's some funny stuff!"

Then tore out of the classroom after the galloping class, leaving a gape-mouthed Dimitri behind in dismay.

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you doing? You call this class Hathaway?"<p>

Rose turned in the rain squinted.

"It's called freeing the mind. Something my insane art teacher taught me!" She twirled and yelled.

"Yeah, I guess that explains your insanity." Dimitri paused with a disapproving frown. "Come in!" Dimitri waved for her to come in, but she shook her head.

"Come on! Don't be responsible for once in your life! Let your hair down!"

"It is down!" Dimitri yelled back. She shook her head and ran forward with an impatient look. Dripping wet and shivering, she grabbed his hands between her clammy, wet ones.

He got drenched after just a minute in the pouring rain. The rest of the class had retired to the gym to dry off, but Rose had stayed out here. She was the last crazy he had left to reel back in.

"Look up!" Rose yelled over the drumming rain. She pulled on his hands.

Dimitri shook his head and pulled back. "What? Are you insane? Let's go!"

She tugged him back and fell into his arms. And started moving.

"Wai…what are you doing?" Even with the question, he automatically put his arms around her.

She pulled back and looked at him like he was idiot. "Dancing, you idjit. Come on. I know you Russians know how to play it." Damn straight.

"There's no music," he spoke soundlessly, and gestured upwards.

Rose frowned.

Dimitri chuckled and without so much as a warning, twirled her around in a splash of water.

When she fell back into his arms, dripping wet and smiling, though he knew her teeth chattered, she met his eyes. And_ looked _at him, through messy tangles of hair and dripping articles of clothing.

Warmth spread from his heart and down through to his fingertips. His body lit up as her body moulded itself to his. Uncertainly, but almost just as certain too, she touched his wet chest with her hands and he felt that warmth spread through her. Here it was.

The precipice.

The breaking point.

The moment he had waited for weeks for and knew had been coming.

And she knew it too. She looked up at him through wet eyelashes and upturned reddened, damp lips. Smiling. He reached down, shivering and with shaking hands and cupped her face.

Without breaking eye contact, she leaned into his hand and kissed his palm. Rose's eyes glinted shyly and happily. A moment. Freeze framed in time.

Until.

_Until. _

_It hit. _

The threat nobody had seen coming.

The end of all goods things.

One moment.

_One._ Her eyes, those beautiful doe-like eyes, dulled, and turned back into her head. And she collapsed. In a heap, a broken mess, she fell in her lover-to-be's arms.

The soldier that had been beaten by the bullet she hadn't seen.

_**Hey guys! Late, late update. But finally finished! Sorry for the wait! For all those who were hoping this would be a fluff story, sorry! It's hard yards all the way in from here. And sorry for the short chapter. But at least it's something right? Hope you enjoyed it.**_

_**And if anybody was wondering, the bullet was metaphorical. She was not literally shot. She just fainted. WHY? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out!**_

_**Review! And I'll write soon!**_

_**Much love,**_

_**.Therisa.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note!**

Whoa! I know you guys all probably hate me. I do too.

I just left this story high and dry, without any explanations whatsoever. I know. I'm a horrible person.

If there are still people interested in this story, then this message is for you!

I'm going to start writing again, finally! I just completed my senior year of high school with my last exam yesterday. I am no longer a school student with a school uniform attending a high school. I feel so old. I stopped writing because I got into my senior year and because of my exams. They determine my tertiary education, so I was determined to get a good mark. This meant cutting off all the things I love including THIS.

But the good news is that I have 4 months of holidays now that I have graduated! So much time meaning a lot of time to get some writing done.

I'll be rewriting previous chapters though, so things may change a little. I apologise for that. But since I left this so long ago, I'm sure you'd have to reread it anyway. I'll get started as soon as I get my laptop back which should be very soon. I'll also be posting some other stuff. Maybe some one-shots of a story that extends for a few chapters.

Again, I apologise. I really do. I should have at least explained before I stopped. Hope you can forgive me.

Lysa


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